Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Brighthouse Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:BHF)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $60.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Brighthouse Financial traded as high as $64.00 and last traded at $58.33, with a volume of 3111434 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.09.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on BHF. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Brighthouse Financial from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised Brighthouse Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Brighthouse Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Brighthouse Financial from $42.00 to $41.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.63.

Insider Activity at Brighthouse Financial

In other Brighthouse Financial news, EVP Myles Lambert sold 8,400 shares of Brighthouse Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.70, for a total transaction of $434,280.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,727,141.90. The trade was a 20.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brighthouse Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BHF. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Brighthouse Financial by 974.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 989.5% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 29.4% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Brighthouse Financial by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in Brighthouse Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.24% of the company’s stock.

Brighthouse Financial Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of -3.01 and a beta of 1.08.

Brighthouse Financial (NASDAQ:BHF) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $3.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.50 by ($0.51). Brighthouse Financial had a negative net margin of 24.40% and a positive return on equity of 23.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.18 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Brighthouse Financial, Inc. will post 18.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Brighthouse Financial Company Profile

Brighthouse Financial, Inc provides annuity and life insurance products in the United States. It operates through three segments: Annuities, Life, and Run-off. The Annuities segment consists of variable, fixed, index-linked, and income annuities for contract holders’ needs for protected wealth accumulation on a tax-deferred basis, wealth transfer, and income security.